First Baptist Church Litchfield
chapel 1/21

      • Psalm 1:1–3ESV

  • Out of the Mud
  • Your Love

      • Romans 5:8ESV

  • Cast your cares
  • Sovereign One

  • What Do You Keep Safe?

    Almost every one of you has something you are careful not to lose. Some of you check your pockets constantly to make sure your phone is still there. Others guard a favorite sweatshirt, a gaming console, or something small but meaningful like a picture or a note from someone you love. Without being taught, you already know something important about life. You protect what matters most to you.
    Jesus understands that instinct. In Matthew 6, Jesus aims directly at the heart, because the heart is always steering the direction of your life. Jesus asks a question that every generation must answer for itself: What do you treasure most, and what does that reveal about your heart?
    The main idea of this passage is clear.

    You must shift your focus from earthly possessions to heavenly treasures by prioritizing your affections, practicing contentment, and pledging allegiance to Christ, so that your heart is aligned with God’s kingdom and God’s reward.

    This is Jesus’ call on every disciple who desires to live the good life now, in the kingdom of God.
    Jesus addressing a divided heart. Because of sin, our loves drift toward temporary things, and we begin to expect created things to give us what only the Creator can give. Jesus speaks these words because He loves us too much to let us build our lives on what will not last.
    Jesus begins by addressing the direction of our hearts.

    Guard Your Heart by Choosing the Right Treasure Matthew 6:19–21

    Jesus says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
    Jesus is not condemning ownership or possessions themselves. Scripture consistently affirms that God gives good gifts to be enjoyed, as seen in passages like 1 Timothy 6:17. What Jesus confronts is the act of laying up treasures for yourself, meaning storing up your hope, security, and identity in what belongs to this fallen world. The imagery of moth and rust would have been immediately clear to His hearers. Clothing and precious metals represented wealth in the ancient world, yet both were vulnerable to decay. Even if decay did not destroy them, thieves could.
    Jesus’ point is not that earthly treasures are sinful, but that they are unsafe. They cannot be secured. They cannot be preserved. They cannot be eternal. Ecclesiastes 5:15 reminds us that we come into the world with nothing and we leave the same way. Hebrews 13:14 says that here we have no lasting city. Everything in this world is marked by impermanence because it exists under the curse of sin described in Genesis 3.
    When your heart treats temporary things as ultimate things, disappointment is inevitable. The heart will eventually be crushed by the weight it was never meant to carry.
    My brother-in-law once stood at the beginning of a promising career, enjoying success, security, and comfort. Then cancer entered his life suddenly and aggressively. As his strength faded, surrounded by all the things he once worked so hard to obtain, he realized none of them could save him. In that moment, his possessions lost their power. What mattered was life itself.
    That experience functions like a modern parable. Jesus is right. Mark 8:36 asks what good it is for a person to gain the whole world and forfeit their soul. Jesus offers a better vision of life, one in which you gain what truly matters and do not lose your soul in the process. But that vision requires a shift in what you treasure.
    Jesus now presses this further by explaining what it means to treasure Him.

    Love Christ as Your Greatest Treasure Matthew 6:21; Matthew 13:44

    Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Biblically speaking, the heart is the center of your desires, will, and affections. Proverbs 4:23 tells us that everything in life flows from the heart. To treasure something is to prize it, to value it, to treat it as supremely important.
    Jesus explains this in Matthew 13:44 by comparing the kingdom of heaven to a treasure hidden in a field. When a man finds it, he joyfully sells everything he has to obtain it. Jesus emphasis is not on the cost but on the joy. The sacrifice feels small compared to the value of what has been found.
    Jesus is not saying that salvation is earned by selling possessions. He is showing that when someone truly encounters the worth of the kingdom, the heart’s priorities change. Jesus’ solution to our divided hearts is not forced obedience but transformed affection. Psalm 73:25 echoes this when the psalmist says that there is nothing on earth he desires besides God.
    Jesus Himself is the treasure. To know Him, to belong to Him, and to live under His gracious rule is worth everything. This is why salvation is described in Scripture as receiving Christ. John 1:12 teaches that those who receive Him and believe in His name become children of God. Saving faith is not merely agreeing with facts. It is trusting, receiving, and treasuring Christ.
    To receive Jesus is to acknowledge your sin, as Romans 3:23 declares that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. It is to believe that sin deserves judgment, as Romans 6:23 teaches that the wages of sin is death. It is to trust that Jesus lived a perfect life, died as a substitute, and rose again, as summarized in 1 Corinthians 15:3–4. It is to confess Jesus as Lord, as Romans 10:9 explains, and to follow Him in repentance and faith.
    One evidence of genuine faith is affection for Christ. Psalm 42:1 describes a soul that thirsts for God. When Jesus is your treasure, He becomes the one you depend on, the one who rules your mind, and the one who governs your desires. This reordering of love prepares the heart for what Jesus addresses next: contentment.

    Train Your Eyes to Be Content in Christ Matthew 6:22–23

    Jesus now says, “The eye is the lamp of the body.” This metaphor communicates how perception shapes the inner life. The “good” or “healthy” eye refers to a single, clear, undivided focus, while the “bad” or “evil” eye refers to a greedy, covetous, divided vision. This usage appears elsewhere in Scripture, such as Proverbs 28:22, which warns against a man with an evil eye who hastens after wealth.
    Jesus is teaching that what you set your gaze upon shapes what fills your heart. If your eyes are constantly fixed on what others have, your heart will grow restless and dark. Coveting happens internally before it ever becomes external. Exodus 20:17 shows that coveting is a heart sin long before it becomes an action.
    Coveting says that God is not enough. It tells God that His provision is insufficient and His promises cannot be trusted. This is why Hebrews 13:5 commands believers to be content with what they have, grounding that command in God’s promise never to leave or forsake His people.
    Paul gives a living example of contentment in Philippians 4:11–13. He explains that he learned contentment in every circumstance, whether in plenty or in need. Exegetically, the strength Paul describes is not personal resilience but Christ’s sustaining power. His contentment is not tied to circumstances but to a relationship.
    Contentment must be learned because God often teaches it through hardship. James 1:2–4 explains that trials mature faith. Paul’s imprisonment became a classroom for contentment, and through that contentment the gospel advanced, even among Roman guards.
    When a community learns contentment in Christ, joy grows, unity deepens, and generosity overflows. The love of money loosens its grip because the heart rests in something better.
    Jesus now brings His teaching to its sharpest point.

    Choose Your King with Undivided Loyalty Matthew 6:24

    Jesus says plainly that no one can serve two masters. The language is absolute. Service implies ownership and allegiance. Money, referred to here as “mammon,” is not neutral when it claims the heart’s loyalty. It promises security and control, but it demands worship in return.
    The story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 illustrates this danger. When Jesus invites him to follow, the man walks away sorrowful because his possessions possess him. His heart is divided, and his allegiance is revealed.
    Paul later warns in 1 Timothy 6:10 that the love of money leads people away from the faith and pierces them with grief. The tragedy is not wealth itself but misplaced worship. You cannot build two kingdoms with one heart. Joshua 24:15 echoes this truth by calling God’s people to choose whom they will serve.
    Jesus calls for exclusive allegiance, not because He is harsh, but because He alone gives life. A divided heart cannot experience the freedom of the kingdom.

    What Are You Protecting?

    We return to the question we began with. What do you protect most carefully? That answer reveals what you treasure.
    Jesus does not call you away from joy. He calls you toward it. He invites you to store up treasure where it cannot be lost, stolen, or destroyed. When you treasure Christ, your heart finds rest. When you practice contentment in Him, fear loosens its grip. When you pledge allegiance to His kingdom, your life gains eternal purpose.
    The rich fool built his life on what could not last and lost everything. Jesus promises that those who seek His kingdom first will receive what they truly need, both now and forever, as Matthew 6:33 assures us.
    So do not live with a divided heart. Live as a disciple of Jesus with a single-minded, heart united, loyal love for Him. Prioritize your affections, practice contentment, and pledge your allegiance to His kingdom. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And Jesus is a treasure that never fades.

      • Matthew 6:19–24ESV

      • Matthew 6:22–23ESV

      • Matthew 6:22–23ESV

  • Empowered by the Spirit, Guided by the Word

      • Romans 15:13ESV

First Baptist Church Litchfield
pastorjason.fbcl@gmail.com
217-324-4232
http://www.firstbaptistlitchfield.org/
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